The Boss's Son

Factory

Chapter 21 - Scott's POV

As I pulled into the parking lot, I suddenly got a case of the Nervous Nellies. 'What if he doesn't acknowledge my existence? What if he doesn't look up and he doesn't see me? What if Dad doesn't even know his name? What the hell am I doing here? What was I thinking? Crap. I have to go in there. Get it together Scott. Dad's not going to know you're interested in...... in love with...... Oh my God, I'm going to have to come out." I swallowed and gathered up the tatters of my courage and went inside.

A random employee directed me to my Father's Office. I knocked and then headed in, pasting a fake smile on my face and opening the door after Dad said "Come in."

"Hey Dad!"

"Hello Son. It's nice you're here and showing an interest in what goes on. Do you want to begin right away or did you want to go to the cafeteria first and get a coffee or something?"

"Oh, I'd love to go straight to the tour Dad."

I grinned anxiously and then when he said "OK Let's go." I put on the protective gear he handed me. White coat, like I was back in High School Chemistry, I had to put on white rubber boots and a hair net too. The get up alone made me feel more confident. No one would recognize me looking like this! I even had safety glasses handed to me for my pocket.

Dad said there was one particular room that they were necessary for. The unloading area, where the tubs of sardines were dumped into the hopper for initial sorting. Water and scales and other things regularly splashed up during this process and they were essential. "OK Dad, no worries." We headed for the loading bay and he explained how many trucks, tubs and crates were loaded and unloaded based on the tonnage of the catch. Not the most interesting part of the tour, but I paid attention. We went into the unloading area and slipped on the protective eyewear. It was interesting to see the main sardine catch dumped into the hopper and then the stepped conveyor taking them out and dumping them onto the rest of the belt system that took them into the inspection area. Different employees sorted the product, sized them and removed any unwanted by-catch. What was not designated for human consumption went into the feeding lot area and turned into frozen bricks, for the tuna getting fat in farms.

The other catch was tuna. This was handled differently and more delicately as the prized flesh needed to be blemish free. When the product was clean, some went for immediate loading into boxes, the largest and best fish were designated for export. This required more delicate handling so as not to damage the flesh. The smaller fish which were not good for export went into the other side of the factory for processing and canning. Some employees scaled, the next filleted and the next inspected and removed any imperfections on the fish. Then the fillets went into the cutter for shaping to fit the cans, into the canner and then in to the saucing section. Additional ingredients like oil, flavourings and other ingredients such as onions were added before the cans were racked ready for heating under vacuum.

All these processes were required to be done under strict hygiene requirements. Everything was sterile, there was white everywhere and every employee looked the same. I knew Mitch worked on the export side, so I asked Dad if we could look at the export fish before taking a look at the end product.

"Of course. That's my favourite side too. Not so noisy, and I get to inspect the product before shipping. I've developed quite a taste for sashimi!"

"Wait, Dad you like raw fish? Eeewwww."

"Have you actually tried it Son?"

"Um, no I can't say that I actually have."

"Then don't knock it until you've tried it!"

"Ok, whatever you say Dad."

He smiled and we washed our boots before heading into the export room. There were more inspectors here, people weighing, measuring and removing unwanted portions of the catch to make it easier for shipping. Wow, one guy looked like he was using a sword to cut off the heads of the tuna. Holy shit! It was a sword.